Hands-On with Google Search Console

1. What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool provided by Google that helps website owners, SEO professionals, and developers:

• Monitor website performance in Google Search
• Identify technical issues
• Submit sitemaps and individual URLs for crawling
• Understand how Google sees their website

It is essential for optimizing search presence and maintaining SEO health.

2. Getting Started: Setup and Verification

Before using GSC, students should:

• Have a Google account
• Have access to a live website
• Add their site to GSC and verify ownership using one of the methods:

• • HTML file upload

  • HTML meta tag

  • Google Analytics/Tag Manager

  • Domain name provider (DNS)

Activity: Guide students step-by-step through verifying a demo website.

3. Key Features and How to Use Them

a) Performance Report

• Shows clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position.
• Students can filter by query, page, country, and device.

What to Explain:

• Queries = What users typed to find the site
• Impressions = How many times a page appeared in search
• CTR = Clicks ÷ Impressions
• Use this data to improve keywords, meta tags, and content strategy.

b) URL Inspection Tool

• Check if a page is indexed
• View crawl status, last crawl date, and any errors
• Option to request indexing for new or updated pages

Hands-On Task: Inspect a blog post or test URL and explain the output.

c) Coverage Report

Lists pages that are:

• Valid and indexed
• Excluded (intentional or unintentional)
• Have errors or warnings

Common Issues:

• 404 pages
• Redirect errors
• Server issues

Students should learn how to identify and fix indexation problems here.

d) Sitemaps

• Submit a sitemap to help Google discover your content faster.
• XML sitemaps are usually at: www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Demo Activity: Show students how to submit a sitemap.

e) Page Experience & Core Web Vitals

• Measures user experience based on loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
• Includes data on mobile usability and HTTPS usage.

Explain how these factors affect SEO ranking and how to optimize based on the report.

f) Security & Manual Actions

• Alerts for hacking, malware, and violations of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
• “Manual Actions” can lead to significant ranking penalties.

Explain how to monitor this area regularly and keep the site secure.

g) Links Report

• Shows top linked pages, both internal and external.
• Highlights top linking sites and anchor texts.

Let students compare this to their off-page SEO efforts.